'89 Percent' of Syrians Voted to Keep Assad in Power until 2028

Stopping themselves short of 100 percent, Syrian television reports that 89.4 percent of Syrians approved the new constitution proposed by President Bashar al-Assad, and that 57.4 percent of the population turned up to vote. It's hard to tell what's more unbelievable, since that reported voter turnout is more than the percentage of Americans who voted in the 2008 Presidential Election, ignoring the impossible to ignore fact that many of Syria's voters are relentlessly being pelted with rockets and mortars.

On the other hand, it's equally difficult to grasp that 89.4 percent of Syrians would want to see Assad's reign legally extended for 16 more years. "The referendum in Syria is nothing more than a farce," said Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister in a Telegraph report. "Sham votes cannot be a contribution to a resolution of the crisis. Assad must finally end the violence and clear the way for a political transition."